I think it's short sighted not to characterize the Montreal and Philadelphia series as extreme disappointments, particularly in that they lost through coaching. In the Montreal series, we were heavily favored an expected to roll through the team. Last year, we were heavy (by NHL standards) to win the Cup and we were utterly embarrassed in the first round. Finally, although the talent was absent in the TB series, we had a 3-1 lead.

If an NHL coach couldn't make the playoffs with our roster they would fired outright. That said, there's an expectation that we will go deep in the playoffs on a semi-regular basis. A three year slump on that front is inexcusable, period.

There's 4 rounds in any given playoff. I wouldn't say losing in 7 in the 2nd round is getting "embarrassed". I also wouldn't say losing the Tampa series was getting "embarrassed" either. There's 16 teams in every playoff. 15 teams have to lose in order to crown a champion.

Maybe that's where we differ. It's hockey. When it gets to the playoffs, any team is as likely to win as the next. That's why they play the games. You're expectations are way too high, and YOU get disappointed when it doesn't go your way, and when it doesn't, it's an "embarrassment" because the team didn't live up to your insanely high expectations.

Nobody but I'm saying when they get beat by Philly, really nobody from the team had any answers and seemed to say things fall apart and it was "bad luck" I sure hope they haven't and won't keep that mindset going into this season.